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Learn with Marcus Fergusson

Cheese Making at Home

Join artisan cheesemaker Marcus Ferguson to learn how to make your own cheese including a camembert and Caerphilly

Course overview

In this first lesson, Marcus will guide you through the main ingredients and how to source them. You’ll learn all about cultures, rennet, the best milk to source, curds, cooking and draining. Marcus will then guide you through the maturing and aging process: why this is done, what to look for during maturation right through to the finished product. Marcus will discuss benefits of making cheese on a small scale at home-making versus professional. When you're making cheese at home, we recommend you use pasteurised milk.

Meet Marcus Fergusson

Marcus Fergusson is an award-winning cheesemaker from Feltham’s Farm. Marcus first learned to make cheese here at River Cottage and has gone on to win Best British Cheese at the Virtual Cheese Awards in 2020 and 2021. His astounding rind-washed cheese Renegade Monk is a very worthy winner and a fantastic example of a small artisan cheesemaker that is reinventing British cheese. His cheese is sought worldwide and features on Michelin-starred menus throughout Europe. Marcus’ dairy is based on Feltham’s Farm, 22 acres of organic land in the north of Somerset’s beautiful Blackmore Vale. We have always farmed using organic principles, so that means no chemicals on the land and no antibiotics or restricted treatments for our animals, which are all free range and fed organic food. We do not use chemicals, pesticides, or GM modified seeds, we try to avoid single use plastics (difficult with PPE these days), and where possible we use biodynamic principles too. He and his wife Penny Nagle run the dairy and farm. The cheese business came about almost by accident, after Marcus was made redundant from a corporate job in London. He wanted to do something on the farm but at 22 acres it was too small to farm conventionally while making enough money to live on. Marcus has always been obsessed with cheese and after a one-day course at River Cottage, there was no turning back. Just a few years into the adventure they have won numerous awards and the order book keeps getting fatter. In many ways, it seems that this is a mid-life crisis that seems to be panning out OK.

Course description

Learn the art and science of cheese making with Marcus Ferguson, an award-winning cheesemaker from an organic farm in Somerset.

Marcus first learned to make cheese at River Cottage and has gone on to win Best British Cheese at the Virtual Cheese Awards. He now returns to share his wealth of knowledge so that you can learn to make impressive cheeses at home.

Marcus will guide you through the process of how cheese is made and provide you with the necessary skills and confidence to make four different types of cheese - a Caerphilly, Camembert, Ricotta and Labneh. Marcus also shares his tips on how to adapt common household items for cheesemaking, rather than buying expensive specialist equipment.

Cheese making consists of moments of magic as the milk transforms and Marcus guides you through these periods with an explanation of the science of cheese making as the milk takes its “leap towards immortality”.

You'll learn:
  • which equipment you'll need for making cheese (and how to make the equipment and cheese moulds at home)
  • making camembert, Caerphilly, ricotta and labneh cheeses
  • how to taste cheese professionally
  • when the cheeses you make are ready for eating
The course includes:
  • 4 on-demand video lessons - presented by Marcus Ferguson and River Cottage
  • lifetime access to the videos, notes and interactive class
  • flexible classes - join and learn when and where you like
  • downloadable lesson notes
  • practical cheese making assignments (with tutor feedback available)
  • access on your mobile, PC, Mac or laptop
  • small interactive online classroom - chat online to students from around the world and share your creative ideas
Independent Cookery Schools Association approved

This course has been approved by the Independent Cookery Schools Association (ICSA), recognising the highest standards of training.

Time to complete the cheese making course:

Every student is different but in general we think the whole course will take around 14 hours 15 minutes to complete including:

  • Video lessons: 2 hours 15 minutes in total
  • Course notes: 30 minutes per lesson
  • Your cheese making assignments: at least 2 hours per lesson
  • Interactive classroom time: 15 minutes per lesson
  • Tutor feedback review (Expert level): 15 minutes per lesson
You'll need:

Your lesson notes will include the full details of the cheese making equipment and ingredients you'll need. You will be making cheeses so will need standard kitchen equipment as well.

Ready to get started?

Just add the course to your basket above - choose the 'Expert' option for personal feedback from Marcus on your cheese assignments.

If you know someone who'd love this course then give it as a gift - just tick "This is a gift" at the checkout.

Any questions? Contact us by clicking on the orange speech symbol - we'd love to hear from you.